Go Outside And Look At A Sunrise.
In this poem, I was thinking about the narrow focus lives we lead, filled with non-essentials and pretend happiness. I shot this image at sunrise nine years ago today, standing on a path at the South Rim of the Grand Canyon. The real world is so much bigger than we are. Take a moment and marvel at it. That is living. Everyone says they will stop and smell the roses. But, we don't, do we?
Their money they buried.
Their daughters they married.
Their valuables they carried,
everywhere they went.
They locked their doors.
They seldom took risks.
They ate healthy food.
They spent hours on exercise machines.
They lived like they wouldn’t die,
and refused to think about death.
They worked until they slept,
and slept for half the day.
They didn’t learn the lessons of history.
They spent their time
trying to control their environment.
They never wanted to risk rejection,
so they never loved.
They didn’t want to disappoint the neighbors,
so they bought everything they saw.
They never saw a sunrise,
and spent their sunsets watching TV.
They were surprised when life ended,
and wondered where the time went.
They thought they would live forever;
but, the money and valuables and
swimming pools and fancy houses
lived longer than they did.
Those things live forever.
We don’t.
What did you say you were doing today?